[ Honre de Balzac / The Deputy of Arcis ]
This 1839 novel features one mention of a Newfoundland, and it is metaphorical — and certainly out of keeping with the character of Newfoundlands nowadays, although it is not unusual to find 19th-Century writers referring to Newfoundlands as dangerous or ferocious dogs.
One of the characters in this novel, Monsieur de Sallenauve, has rescued a young woman from injury by pulling her out of the way of some runaway horses. When it turns out that he has a somewhat problematic past, another character remarks of him "all I can say is that Newfoundlands are always dangerous."